China Is Planning To Build A Car-Free City

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture has completed the plans for Chengdu Tianfu District Great City, a self-sustaining, environmentally sensitive satellite city due to begin construction this fall outside Chengdu in China. The 1.3-square-kilometer city is intended to respond to the problem of overburdened infrastructure in China’s major urban centers without contributing to high energy consumption and carbon emissions.

The Great City will be completed in around eight years, when it will become home to around 80,000 people. They will be able to walk from one location in the city to another within 15 minutes, which will eliminate the need for most automobiles. The city will also be connected to Chengdu and surrounding areas via mass transit accessed at a regional transit hub.

The Great City will use 48% less energy, 58% less water, produce 89% less landfill waste, and generate 60% less carbon dioxide than a conventional development with a similar population. Adrian Smith said:

Great City resolves the relationship between high-density urban living and sustainable development. This project will provide all basic services to its residents through a sustainable infrastructure that supports education, commerce, culture and an improved quality of life. It demonstrates how China can reduce its ecological footprint while creating economic conditions that are affordable for the majority of citizens and address contemporary social concerns.